Event type: Comedy

Watch the short documentary Terry has compiled looking at his internationally acclaimed music progression, via the Liverpool locations that brought him to where he is today.

Afterwards, join us for a Zoom where you can ask questions about Terry’s life, music, Irishness, career and experiences. Trade stories, hear others or simply watch a maker talk about his world. This is part of our #LIF2020 Meet the Maker series.

Terry has developed a tour of his Liverpool walk, which is documented in his film. If you wanted to, you could trace his route. There are eight stops, which include:
1. Liverpool Famine Memorial at St Luke’s church
2. Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Hope Street
3. Former Everyman Bistro plus The Pen Factory
4. Former Liverpool Irish Centre, 128 Mount Pleasant
5. St George’s Hall Plateu, Lime Street
6. Liverpool ferry terminal (now Mersey Ferries and cruise terminal) at Pier Head
7. The Cunard Building at Pier Head
8. Museum of Liverpool at Pier Head
You can follow the Googlemap here:

You could also send yourself this link: https://goo.gl/maps/DNKQ29Yf6x5YNEUf9 to use the map on your phone.

Event recording: The following video was recorded at #LIF2020, 6pm 23 Oct 2020.

The remaining films are from Terry’s collection.

Enjoy an evening of traditional tunes with Dublin based trad/folk duo Varo.

“Varo is the name of a river that, centuries ago, used to represent the border between France and Italy. Over time it wrestled between being French or Italian, as though it couldn’t really choose a nationality, like the two of us. We come from two different countries and have found ourselves falling in love with the Irish music and its culture” – Lucie Azconaga and Consuelo Nerea Breschi.

Varo are singers and fiddle players Lucie Azconaga (France) and Consuelo Nerea Breschi (Italy) who perform Irish traditional songs and tunes, with arrangement influences from the Folk, Baroque and Classical traditions; weaving melodies with harmonies, drones and countermelody. The duo met in 2015, having moved to Dublin to pursue their love for Irish traditional music, and immediately started a fruitful collaboration. They travelled to Ireland along different musical paths, Lucie from jazz, classical music and French folk; Consuelo from Irish trad, folk and world music.

Over the years, Lucie and Consuelo have had the pleasure of working in various other projects, such as Landless, Lisa O’Neill’s Band, Ye Vagabonds, The Morning Tree, Alasourse and The Nomadic Piano Project. They have now assembled a phenomenally talented group for a new collaborative album and video series, which they will premiere videos of and discuss as part of this exclusive live stream event.

Find out more about their upcoming collaboration project, here an listen to their 2020 album here.

“It is an exciting time for Irish folk music, and Varo’s accomplished debut should position them at the forefront of the scene”, Folk Radio UK
“The delicious austerity of the baroque intertwined with the current Dublin traditional music scene. Varo have mastered the art of subtle layering of tunes…”, The Irish Times
“Varo do magic things to traditional tunes…”, Hot Press

Other links: FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM  | BANDCAMP | SPOTIFY

This film was premiered on YouTube and Facebook on 23 Oct 2020.

 

This is an In:Visible Women marker. It shows this event continues our In:Visible Women work. These events are always open to everyone, but are female led and often contain stories pertinent to women. In:Visible Women began in 2016 and shows the Festival’s dedication to promoting equity and hearing from women who have, historically, been diminished by societal systems. This is a small contribution to making invisible women -and their stories- visible.

Local stories, recorded by Greg Quiery and Roger Appleton, in 2020.

Witness Famine and migration accounts of Liverpool’s Irish community, recorded for the Great Famine Voices archive as part of an ongoing partnership with the Irish Heritage Trust and the Strokestown National Famine Museum.

The film, produced specifically for previewing at Liverpool Irish Festival, will post on our Facebook page at 8pm on Tue 20 Oct 2020. This is not a live post, but this is when the majority of us will tune in to the page to watch. The Festival Director will be on hand to take comments and provide further information, as needed. Using this method, preserves the fidelity of the film and allows people to watch repeatedly and share in to the future.

You can view the film here:

This is the film you will find on the home page of the Great Famine Voices Roadshow site.

This event features as part of the Great Famine Voices Roadshow, taking place 4-25 Oct 2020.

 

Please join us this week for our “Famine Heroes” short film documenting Montreal’s Grey Nuns and the Great Hunger.
The most powerful eyewitness accounts of the suffering of Famine emigrants in North America can be found in the annals of the Grey Nuns who cared for them in the fever sheds of Montreal. Discover the stories of James Flood from Strokestown and Rose Brown from Galway who were cared for by the Grey Nuns after losing their parents. Learn about the miracle of Rose’s marble which led to her reunification with her mother and vocation to join the Grey Nuns as Sister St. Patrice.  Over six thousand Irish emigrants are buried in Montreal, the largest Famine Irish mass grave outside of Ireland, which is marked by the Black Rock memorial. This burial ground has been recently excavated. The film pays tribute to Montreal’s Famine Irish and their Canadian caregivers.

Watch the story here: http://greatfaminevoices.ie/famine-heroes/
Please join us for a post-show discussion with the film makers on Zoom on Sunday, October 4th at 7pm Irish Time, 2pm Eastern Standard Time in North America.
 Join Zoom Meeting
https://quinnipiac.zoom.us/j/96845795393?pwd=MXdDdnZJWDZDSHFsNTZGQnFGc1JkUT09
Meeting ID: 968 4579 5393
Passcode: famine
To find out more, please visit this link.

 

We have also been asked to share th efollowing:
Please watch “Frederick Douglass in Ireland” (Christine Kinealy, Rebecca Abbott, Kwaku Fortune) which is free to view at:

The film gives an overview of Frederick Douglass’s life-changing time spent in Ireland at the beginning of the Great Famine in 1845-1846. Irish actor Kwaku Fortune reflects on Douglass’s legacy for new communities in Ireland.

Famine Heroes

Please join us and special guest for a post-show discussion with the film makers on Zoom on Sunday, October 18th at 7pm Irish Time, 2pm Eastern Standard Time in North America (invitation details in link above).

A shorts film programme, curated exclusively for the Liverpool Irish Festival from submissions to IndieCork Festival in 2020.

IndieCork has partnered with the Festival for many years now, bringing a wealth of new Irish filmmaking talent to our screens. We have found IndieCork’s programmes to be a dynamic showcase for emerging Irish voices, demonstrating the current preoccupations of the makers. Historically it has revealed subject trends and new genres and styles arising from Ireland. Mick Hannigan, Director of IndieCork, handpicks a selection from this year’s competition films, exclusively for the Liverpool Irish Festival, which can this year be enjoyed from your home armchair. Thanks Covid-19!
Image Credit: The Invisible Boy, dir. James Fitzgerald, 2020. This film will feature within the programme.
IndieCork have their own online platform on which to view films. To watch the collection they have compiled for #LIF2020  -from 8pm on Mon 19 Oct 2020- you will need to have signed in here: https://indiecork.filmchief.com/hub/browse

To sign in, you will need to provide an email address, which you must authenticate by replying to their registration email. After that, you will be able to log in. The Liverpool Irish Festival collection will not be available until 8pm on Mon 19 Oct 2020, but will remain available until 8pm on Wed 21 Oct 2020.

My Aunt and I: Carmen Cullen: Biographer is part of our Meet the Maker series.

Words, images, music and voice, to entertain and cajole. Draw up a vertical chair to view and listen to the enthralling poetry videos of Carmen Cullen. Experience the songs of her famous aunt, Delia Murphy (as sung by Carmen), and hear how their different artistic worlds merge.

Delia Murphy was Ireland’s Ballad Queen in the 1930s to the 1950’s and the unrivalled singing star of her day with such hits as The Spinning Wheel. Be intrigued by two successful, creative women, their family links and common difficulties.  Carmen’s poetry is from her Pandemic Poetry, still ongoing, and her answer to the Covid-19 lockdown. Images are by Deirdre Ridgeway. Original music is by Gerry Anderson.

The film below is a quick edit film of the Zoom recording of this event, which took place as part of #LIF2020. It has ben produced as a document of the event, for use with subtitles. Please note, there were a number of technical issues during the show which affect both the visual and audio quality of the piece; however, as a guide for those who were unable to attend, we hope it serves its purpose.

This is an In:Visible Women marker. It shows this event continues our In:Visible Women work. These events are always open to everyone, but are female led and often contain stories pertinent to women. In:Visible Women began in 2016 and shows the Festival’s dedication to promoting equity and hearing from women who have, historically, been diminished by societal systems. This is a small contribution to making invisible women -and their stories- visible.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to unforeseen circumstances the date for this event has changed to Sat 24 Oct from Sat 17 Oct 2020.

This is an online broadcast and watch party of Colm and Laura Keegan: Live, allowing people from around the world to join in and celebrate their musical talents.

Virtual audiences are invited to shape live elements with interactive comments, which Colm and Laura will react and respond to.

Colm and Laura Keegan are international stars, running Scots-Irish castle tours and large music tours of the USA. Multi-award winning Irish singer and musician Colm Keegan is best known as one of the principal singers in PBS’s sensation show: Celtic Thunder, which led to him meeting his soon-to-be musical partner and wife, Glaswegian cellist Laura Durrant. Some might say a far cry from their days of personal invitations to play at the Pentagon, Colm and Laura join us to present an intimate live event diret to you at home.

This event is held in partnership with the Liverpool Irish Centre.

Tickets are available on StageIt, which requires you to create a log in. We recommend doing this ahead of the event to avoid any delays or disappointment. Proceeds go directly to the artists.

How does living away from home impact your art?

Does the experience of living abroad allow for an exchange of ideas?

Adrian Duncan is a Berlin-based Irish visual artist whose debut novel, Love Notes from a German Building Site (2019) recently won the inaugural John McGahern Annual Book Prize, awarded by the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies, who co-present this event. Prior to his writing career, Adrian trained as a structural engineer. Join him as he discusses ideas of being an Irish artist abroad, how living in Berlin impacts his work and whether his background training has influenced his artistic view. He will also give a short reading from his most recent novel, A Sabbatical in Leipzig, which was published by The Lilliput Press in March. Followed by a live Twitter Q&A with Adrian; use #LIF2020 to address your questions. Twitter: @adrian_duncan_ and @LilliputPress

Order books at www.lilliputpress.ie and use “LIF20” to receive a 20% discount during the Festival. Direct Sales link.

Bio: Adrian Duncan is an artist and writer based in Ireland and Berlin. His debut novel Love Notes from a German Building Site was published by The Lilliput Press and Head of Zeus in 2019. It won the inaugural John McGahern Annual Book Prize in 2020 and was shortlisted for the inaugural Dalkey Literary Festival Emerging Writer Award. His second novel A Sabbatical in Leipzig was published by The Lilliput Press in 2020.

Broadcast on Facebook on 18 Oct 2020:

A programme of short animations, curated exclusively for the Liverpool Irish Festival.

Started at the Liverpool Irish Festival in 2017, the Celtic Animation Film Festival celebrates and encourages new and emerging Celtic and international animators to forge an ongoing global community to share practice, tell stories and reflect on Celtic culture and concerns.

It’s themes have tracked with the Festival’s, with awards for Best Celtic Animation Film, Best International Animation Film and Best Student Animation Film, judged by an industry and practitioner panel. In 2020, Directors Kate Corbin and Eleonora Asparuhova look back over their three year run to curate an evening of film, which bears witness to diaspora stories and contemporary approaches to animation. Join the watch party and social media Q&A that follows.
CAFF is volunteer led. Having done a little video editing for the Festival, Team LIF can testify to just how long video editing takes! It’s a lot. If you can contribute to their work in thanks for an incredible programme, please donate via Paypal to cafcompetition@gmail.com.

Announcement
Following the sceening, the Audience Award wast voted on by viewers and has been won by Crossing to Ireland, created by Rachel Mcmahon and Jean Maskell. The Celtic Animation Film Festival award will be sent on to filmmakers soon. Thank you for voting and for supporting contemorary animation.

Still from Crossing to Ireland
NB – our CAFF screening was shown as a scheduled post, rather than a live stream, to ensure the fidelity of the film. Liverpool Irish Festival apologies unreservedly for any confusion. For licenceing and intellectual property reasons, it needed to be expire and can no longer be accessed.

This is an In:Visible Women marker. It shows this event continues our In:Visible Women work. These events are always open to everyone, but are female led and often contain stories pertinent to women. In:Visible Women began in 2016 and shows the Festival’s dedication to promoting equity and hearing from women who have, historically, been diminished by societal systems. This is a small contribution to making invisible women -and their stories- visible.

Image credit (top of the page) – detail from a still from Blue From Heaven.

Join other Facebookers in a general digital watch party over on our Facebook channel. Featuring glimpses of the Festival, exclusive films and previews, it provides a great showcase for the days ahead.

Covid-19 has changed how we can be together, so between 8pm and 10.30pm, we will release lots of digital content and form a bit of a Facebook watch party on our page. We will share project films and stories, comments, images from previous festivals, links to articles and updates about the Festival. We also invite you send in memories, comments or launch wishes on the night, so you can share in the opening of #LIF2020.

The full schedule runs as below. Please note: some of these links will not work until the night as the posts are released. Please visit us on Facebook, where we will be dropping all of this and comments across the evening. Join us!

8:00pm –  #LockdownLights story release : A Reflection

8:05pm #LockdownLights story release: Vin Finn and Joan Boyce, In Memoriams

8:10pm Eithne Browne and friends – Act I plays on Facebook. Please feel free to donate here www.liverpoolirishfestival.com/give

8:50pm #LinesFromLockdown project; Quarantine – poetry film plays on Facebook, in honour of Eavan Boland

8:55pm #LockdownLights poem;  Greg Quiery’s ‘The Simmy’

9:00pm #LockdownLights poem; Greg Quiery’s ‘On Exchnage Flags’, in honour of Black History Month. Black Lives Matter. Full stop.

9:05pm ‘Lily’ trailer, showing in partnership with the Irish Film Festival London plays on Facebook

9:07pm – LQBTQIA+ trio of films, screened in partnership with the Irish Film Festival London plays on Facebook

‘Boy Saint’ – 7mins 22 seconds (dir. Tom Speers)
‘Becoming Cherrie’ 12mins, (dir. Nicky Larkin)
‘Tuesday Night’, 15mins (dir. Michael Healy).

9:40pm Matt McGinn Lessons of War trailer, plays on Facebook

9:50pm #LockdownLights story release: Shenanigans and milk bottle Guinness

9:55pm #LinesFromLockdown project; We Must Create- poetry film, plays on Facebook. With thanks to Stephen James Smith for allowing us to use his poem

10:05pm Eithne Browne and Friends – Act 2 plays on Facebook. Again, if you are able to give, please do so here: www.liverpoolirishfestival.com/give.

10:30pm A reading list to leave you with.

We shall look forward to seeing lots of you there!

Some of our broadcasts from launch night:

Also see our “We Must Create” film.

Mellowtone have promoted songwriters -from the worlds of folk, blues and roots music in Liverpool- for over 15 years.

Mellowtone Records was established in 2014 to progress this mission further.

A shared cultural history has entwined Liverpool with Ireland.  One of the dominant strands in the city’s development was Irish immigration and this event features a range of Liverpool-based musicians from Ireland -and of Irish heritage- with live recorded performances and music videos from Seafoam Green, Simon Herron, Only Child, Kingfast, and Motel Sundown.

Seafaom Green photograph: J Bixen.

Festival playlist

It’s always good to have something new and varied to listen to isn’t it? So while you’re cooking today’s dinner, or settling in to your new group of six, why not stick on a playlist? We’ve asked some friends to create one for you on Spotify, which you can find by searching “Seafoam Green Liverpool Irish Festival by Dave O’Grady” or using this link.

Seafoam Green are Irish song-writing duo Dave O’Grady and Muireann McDermott Long, they’ve played at the Festival with Mellowtone a number of times. This playlist, curated specially for the Liverpool Irish Festival, features a range of their influences, inspirations, friends and peers, with Irish selections from the traditional to the contemporary. Based in Liverpool, and working with Mellowtone Records, their debut LP Topanga Mansion was met with critical acclaim.

“Stunning…9/10” Classic Rock Magazine
“Instant Classic…9/10” Hot Press Magazine
“Gutsy Americana with a heart of gold…” Clash Magazine
★★★★★ Country Music Magazine

See mellowtonerecords.com/artists/seafoam-green for more.

Poster below: artwork Tony Jaycott; design Jono Jones.

Click to see the film we broadcast here.